DURHAM, N.C. — Duke prides itself on fulfilling a “next man up” mentality – one many programs strive to fulfill yet fall short of — but the Blue Devils’ defensive backs are testing the limits.
Through an injury-plagued 3-0 start, this week marks the first time Duke has slotted the same five starters in the 4-2-5 scheme on the depth chart as the Blue Devils prepare to face N.C. Central (1-1) in the Bull City Gridiron Classic. The latest edition starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The “next man up” rotation began with the season-opening win over Army; senior safety Jeremy McDuffie, a returning starter, wasn’t fully recovered from off-season knee surgery as had been expected. Junior Koby Quansah, a backup linebacker, was experimented with in his place.
In the second win at Northwestern, junior cornerback Mark Gilbert, a returning All-ACC pick and All-American candidate, was lost for the season with a hip injury suffered in the second quarter. His injury began the domino effect.
Sophomore Michael Carter, who had started the opener opposite Gilbert at cornerback, moved to McDuffie’s safety position (Quansah returned to backup linebacker) after Army’s passing game got behind the Blue Devils’ secondary. Carter took over Gilbert’s cornerback, while Josh Blackwell moved in Carter’s original CB slot and was now starting opposite Carter.
Are you following this? Good, because there was more in-game juggling to come at Baylor.
In the third win in Waco, Tx., Carter and Blackwell started at the corners and redshirt freshman Leonard Johnson was the third safety to start in McDuffie’s spot. But Carter soon left the game with an injury in the first series, forcing redshirt sophomore Myles Hudzick to replace him. Later Blackwell left the game and redshirt sophomore Antone Williams was thrown into the fire for his first game of the year and second of his career.
That’s going three deep on a depth chart and surviving without a drop off.
“The way we practice we’re all very prepared,” Hudzick said. “We all practice like we’re starters. We’re ready and very prepared.”
In the Baylor game, Blackwell finished with a forced fumble, Johnson returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown that gave Duke a 40-20 lead with 3:39 to play in the 40-27 victory and Hudzick led the team with nine tackles, including one for a 3-yard loss.
Meanwhile, Duke’s two DBs to have started all three games in the same safety positions, junior Dylan Singleton and sophomore Marquise Waters, ended up second and tied for fourth in tackles. Singleton had seven to go a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and Waters four stops.
What it also says about Duke is how well head coach David Cutcliffe and his staff has recruited defensive backs. The percentage of hitting on players panning out is one that Deion Sanders, a Pro and Football College Football Hall of Fame cornerback, would have taken in his part-time Major League Baseball career spanning nine seasons.
Cutcliffe says they don’t necessarily recruit defensive backs in categories of cornerbacks and safeties, the latter generally a slower player. They recruited athletes with quick feet that can over and later determine their position as cornerbacks or safeties.
“One of the longest periods we have is man coverage, one on one, and we run it over and over and over,” Cutcliffe said. “They’re going to be coached hard in coverage skills. We can play zone — we can do those things — but we better be able to cover. That takes great feet; also a tenacity.
“(Former Duke cornerback) Bryon Fields said all the time of his teammates, ‘It’s not over until it’s over. You can get it out once the ball is caught.’ I love that mentality. We try to develop that mentality. I think coach (Matt) Guerrieri (co-defensive coordinator/safeties) and coach (Derek) Jones (associated head coach/defensive backs) do a great job coaching young people.”
That explains Blackwell and Singleton both recording forced fumbles.
Duke’s secondary play on the fly also is tangible evidence of the team’s closeness. It’s a quality Cutcliffe has cited since spring ball, but the start of regular-season proves it to be more than talk. Overcoming injuries with backups is a telltale sign.
Look no further than Hudzick for an example. He was one of the players the team captains singled out in the locker room following the game.
In the spring, the coaches had named him one of three most improved defensive players, along with Waters and Quansah. That seemed to give Hudzick an inside shot at the starting cornerback job opposite Gilbert.
But in fall camp Carter was shifted from safety to cornerback, while at the same time Blackwell made a strong push over Carter for the starting nod. Hudzick’s slowed momentum might have derailed an athlete without genuine team spirit, but Hudzick kept preparing for his opportunity.
“Anybody can start and anybody can play,” Hudzick said of the depth chart. “It just turned out that Josh started over me. It’s all about that next man up mentality. I knew regardless of whether I started or not I had to be ready to step up, and it happened at Baylor in the third game of the season.”
Throughout warm-ups at Baylor, Hudzick said he felt a strange feeling this would be his day.
“I probably told Michael Carter and Josh Blackwell three or four times, ‘I’ve got your back regardless of what happens,’ ” he said. “I had a feeling I was going to have to play, and it happened after just a few plays. I did what I had to do.”
Along with other teammates in what has turned out to be a young but surprisingly deep defensive backfield.
